Reviews by FtownThrowDown:

Pours a hazy gold in color. White film of froth sitting atop the beer.Smell is lemony, but there's some sort of a cleaning solution smell as well in the nose.Taste is watered down lemonade. Very high carbonation and pretty bitter in the mouthfeel. Can't get past the watered down lemonade taste. Just not digging on this one at all.Could possibly be a good lawnmower beer on a blistering hot day. This could be at best refreshing in this scenario.

More User Reviews:

Oh yeah, brothers and sisters, this is a style, sub-style or whichever it may be, that we wish would get much more attention ... the Hoppy American Wheat.

Unrefined raw appearance, small floaties swirl and dance as the carbonation pushes them around the cloudy golden liquid. The head retention is nothing less than spectacular. Big orangey burst in the nose, smells of freshly broken up clementines with a sprig or two of spearmint. From first sip, the lush, bottle-conditioned, smooth body wraps itself around the tongue. Light bready and doughy biscuit flavors from start to finish; wheat comes off with a hint of spice and the yeast tone is a bit nutty but stays neutral for the most part. While the hop bitterness is not massive, the flavor does get a bit vicious on the taste buds with a pummeling of orange skin, mint leaves, green pepper and black tea. In the midst of the hop chaos is an injection of spicy pepper and tropical fruit from the alcohol. All of this, and it wields a relatively clean finish.

Yet again, we run into one of these "limited release" beers and wish it would have gone straight to the year-round lineup.

Large bottle, w/o freshness info. Pours slightly cloudy(cloudier towards the later pours, as the yeast get included into the flow) golden amber... The head is large/huge and lovely, real nice retention, and a slow melt down. Thick blotches of lace on the glass. Grapefruit/amarillo hop nose. Nice hoppy wheat, I love amarillo hops, so the load poured into this brew results in a fruity mango/grapefruit love fest. Love the style, love FF's effort here, wish I could get it locally.

Situation: recovering my senses after Jerilyn and Rob's wedding weekend--cheers!Glassware: Koenig wheat...Appearance: Hazy golden body supports an equally hazy, bubbly off-white head-handosme...Aroma: Tremendously aromatic bouquet of alchemized hops, as the bottle proclaims; the clever merge of Northwest and English hops provides a delightfuly softened citrus fruit aroma when wedded with the wheat...Palate: confident, strong yet smooth body in a wheat ale...the wheat softens the approaching crunch that never hits, like a wave that breaks well before shore...Taste: genuine citric crispness that holds its alcohol well within its body--the hops are balanced nicely within a wheat pillow case, but flavor is definitely available on the teeth and tongue...Overall: A birthday gift handpicked by mother-in-law--and what a gift! I applaud Flying Fish for their (somewhat politically maligned) attempt to pay homage to NJ's distinguishing features...the big bottle affords a big yet respectable taste...if only Jersey traffic were this smooth and enjoyable...

On tap @ the Copper Mine Pub (North Arlington, NJ) on 7/24/09. Served in a pint glass.

Pours a hazy straw, with a finger of foamy brite-white head. Retains mostly around the edges, leaving back a fizzy cascade of lace that quickly recedes down the sides of the glass. The aroma possesses quite the nice pop of American hops in the nose, being floral and spicy, with a beautiful grapefruit character to it. Sweet wheat and yeasty notes mix in to give this a sharp tang.

The taste starts with a crisp and bitter hop bite up front, that is then immediately cut by that same mix of grapefruit citrus and bready wheat. The hops linger with a satisfying spicy dry feel well past the finish. The mouthfeel is lighter-medium bodied, with a crisp and prickly bite to it. Quite the delcious and thristquenching feel over all for an over 6% beer.

Very nice. Your starting to see more and more of these Hopped-Up Wheat beers each year, and this one is definitely up there. American hops are out in force in this one, with that zesty grapefruit character really being the hightlight for me. Well done beer here form Flying Fish.

A: Poured a lemon-blonde with a good clarity and a bright white spongey head upon the first pour that turned soapy for the remaining servings. The head fizzled out with a less then fair retention lasting less then a minute and failed to leave hardly a trace of lacing. Visible effervesce was strong and composed of large macro bubbles that feverishly rose doing its job in delivering a bright and strong aroma. Thankfull this was the only weak spot of the drink I thought and this beer only got stronger as it went along.

S: freshly squeezed wet lemons that delivered a sour old country time lemonade aroma. The hopping was citrusy with fresh wet pine notes as well a light dry lemon fragrance. A good dry wheat scent and pale grains was detected ever so slight beneath the bright and wet hopping but did give a nice dry backing that highlighted the hops.

T: The flavor was sharp vibrant fresh lemons dripping of wet citrus with a fresh whole wheat taste. The hopping was moderately strong but well rounded and never harsh, rather blending beautifully with the pale and wheat grains with a perfect balance. Sweet tart tangerines and a slight fruitiness of green apples could also be detected. The pale grains and wheat perfectly compliments just the right amount of hops to give this a incredible balance. While other beers try to OD you on the hops, this was designed to be the perfect balance in regards to the contribution of the grains and hops delivering a smooth and very quaffable character.

M: bright and sharp from the carbonation with a good crispness. A medium consistency with a nice edgy feel from the wheat and carbonation brings some texture. This sits incredibly well on the tongue leaving a faint tartness of lemons on the finishing swallow. If I hadn't been in such a hurry for the next sip I would of held this longer to enjoy.

D: Drinkability as well the flavor and mouthful was very good. The perfect blend and balance of grains and hops delivers a incredibly smooth experience that was crisp and will wow you on the way down. A very easily sessionable beer that I found gone before I got a chance to know. At 6.2% abv you hardly notice the alcohol and drinks like a fine crisp American wheat that goes down perfectly on a end of summer day. This is perhaps the first beer from NJ that should get recognition outside the region and finally puts NJ on the map along with their exit 4. Limited to only 1000 cases im guessing this wont last long. Worth an hour trip out of your way.

Pulled straight from the cellar after 3+ months (maybe a bit long in the tooth???) A beautiful look to this beer - the 750ml pours a massive head into my tulip, maybe 3 fingers or so of sudsy, growing effervescence. The bubbles fade slowly, leaving a significant wall of cloud-like lace that is hanging on for dear life. The beer below is a super hazed gold that seems to trap light into itself, turn things up a notch and emit a true glow. I can't picture this style looking any better.

Is it me or is the nose too subtle? Maybe the age has dampered things? All I pick up is lemon, some faint grain, fresh cooked corn... digging a little deeper yields some sugared grapefruit, grassy hops and a honey touch. OK, not bad... not great.The taste shines more, but I do suspect the age is playing a factor.. I will adjust my review. A light touch of grapefruit wheat/hop up front. Subtle but complex right off the bat. Extra light malt produces a touch of caramel in the middle of my tongue.... but the wheat steals the show. Bready, yeasty yet flows lightly on the tongue. Helped by just enough carbonation, I wouldn't mind feeling a bit of bubbly sting (I don't). An herbal tea middle - hints of ginger here - finishes into a nice citrus kiss in the throat. Multi dimensional without being heavy... the perfect balance between hefe and ipa... this is very refreshing.

Simple off white head nice foamy, with a slightly just hint of cloudy gold with this really unique kind of light bronze color hue. Tiny carbonation rising fast from the bottom.

Nose is wheat, small, but also some sort of sweet sensation with pepper. Really interesting, very odd but I like it.

Taste brings a very unexpected and large hop presence. Hop heat blast mixing some lemon like citrus in the palate. Soft bodied in texture with the malt, then still brings stinging pine needles as well. Hint of white pepper. This beer taste and feels peppery to me.

Overall this is a really unique beer. Good all around but I am not sure I am the biggest fan but I would definitely have it again.

Nice to see some special release stuff from a local brewery. After showing up to bars a day late for this multiple times, I finally get to try my bottle tonight.

APPEARANCE: Pours into my Ayinger weizen glass a somewhat hazy golden yellow. The head is bright white and starts at 3-fingers high before dropping gradually to a full, loose-bubbled cap.

SMELL: Immediately you're hit by a deep aroma of citrus and piny hops. But it's not too hard to go past them and find a sweet, clean base of fluffy wheat. No yeast esters to speak of; just a great blend of malt and hops.

TASTE: Wow, balance! Finally a beer that brings legitimacy to the American Wheat style. The malt really reminds me of the sweetness and fluffy qualities of German hefeweizens but obviously without the banana and clove esters. The hops are most prominent toward the front but lend their flavor throughout the entire taste. Really impressive.

MOUTHFEEL: Medium bodied and smooth. Well-above average for style with zero harshness. Carbonation is on the higher end which seems about right.

DRINKABILITY: It's the best American Wheat I've ever had. Shame on anyone for not finishing a whole bottle.

I'd heard good things but didn't expect this. Now I'm bemoaning the fact that this batch is the last of this beer forever. I guess I need to stock up.

My first in the turnpike series and glad to be able to get a hold of it to say the least. Served chilled, this one was consumed on 09/21/2009.

The pour was nicely done. Rich golden amber in color with a huge head of white on top. Light cloudiness to it as well really capped it off quite nicely. Nice lacing down the sides fits the style perfectly. Aroma is hoppy, lights of lemon and light grassy notes abound here. Floral would be the optimal word though it did tend to stray off the path a touch and land itself in the lemon category a bit too much. Crisp, and very clean on the palate, much more refreshing and light then I thought it would be and that was a wonderful thing to behold. Rich notes of lemon and light grass, hints of wheat on the tongue and a nice hit of peach and pear on the finish,. Very dry finish as well with a light spicy note gracing the tongue.

Overall this was very nicely done. I was not totally sure what to expect out of this series but if this is any indication it is going to be great. I look forward to getting some more of this very soon.

A: Pale blonde, a little more so than straight up straw-coloured, Head formed about a perfect 2-fingers, with patchy lacing here and there.

S: Lemony! It has a big citrus hoppiness, most like lemon zest. In some ways, it kind of reminds me of the scent of something like Mr. Clean or other household detergent / cleaner that have that "citrus fresh" scent. It's a pleasant scent, but I can't help but make the connection.

T: Assertive lemon citrus and pine flavours, though not as pungent or bitter as they would be in an IPA or the like. They are still big, but generally smoother. The flavour added by the wheat sits on the sidelines... rather, it offers a base flavour for others to shine. It all works out quite well, I think, and offers a good example of the flavour profiles working in a pleasant harmony.

M + D: Crisp and refreshing, yet full of flavour. Body is nice and clean, and makes it very accessible and a joy to drink. They haven't felt the need to make it boozy or so large that it is a challenge to enjoy, which makes it even rather quaffable.

Drinkability - As we cruise down the Turnpike, it becomes evident that this is quite a summertime session beer. Refreshing, with a not unreasonable ABV (6.2%).

If you're driving through the Garden State, Exit 11 on the NJ Turnpike is how you get to the Jersey shore. This beer gives you a taste of that; sunny and refreshing but with some (hop) character. Suntan lotion not included...

Taste is excellent, the wheat does not overwhelm, definitely lemony with solid hop following to back up the citrus flavors. Fairly unique in style. Minimal alcohol smell and taste.Easily drinkable, Im glad I had it, will have it again in the future, gives me hope for a promising future of solid brews from FF.